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ADVOCACY AT BRIEF
Across the globe, international governments are lifting restrictions on unvaccinated travellers and removing final obstacles to travel.
Yet in Canada, despite recent announcements on temporary changes to border procedures at our airports, there is no plan in place to allow unvaccinated travellers to visit Canada.
In addition, the ArriveCAN application, originally implemented as part of an emergency order under the Quarantine Act for public health, continues to prove a barrier to travel.
In a recent House of Commons Committee meeting, MPs heard of the damaging impact that COVID-19 has had on our border towns and tourism industry from TIAC President and CEO Beth Potter, but also, Mark Weber, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, who said the app has CBSA officers acting as "IT consultants" for travellers and is “an incredible drain on resources. It's a drain on time.”
But while European and other international governments are dropping mandates, remaining restrictions in Canada are severely restricting the industry's ability to recover. Despite this month’s increase in U.S. residents taking trips into Canada through land ports, the number of trips remains at half (50.8%) of the U.S. residents who arrived by automobile during the same month in 2019. This is simply untenable for the resource-based tourism industry in Northern Ontario, our border towns and is having a major impact on the number of tourists throughout Ontario.
At the same time when inflation and gas prices are soaring, businesses across Ontario are facing a perfect storm of conditions that could see some businesses decide to close for the season. A recent report by Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario (NOTO) demonstrated that already this season, over $100 million has been lost in cancellations as American tourists cancel their plans to visit Ontario.
As a member of the Northern Ontario Border Working Group, TIAO joined NOTO, Destination Northern Ontario and frontline operators joined for a press conference to call on the government to end the following remaining border requirements: 1. Random testing at land border crossings. 2. Vaccination of international tourists. 3. Use of ArriveCAN.
The economic legacies of the pandemic, most notably debt, will continue to act as a millstone around the recovery of the tourism industry and TIAO will continue to work with TIAC to push for the writing off of debt incurred during the pandemic. But, the continued inability of our industry to compete on a level playing field with our international competitors continues to make it impossible for our industry to recover. It’s time for Canada to join other leading countries the G7 in adapting our response to the pandemic and remove vaccine mandates, random testing and the need to use ArriveCAN.
You can watch the entire press conference, including remarks from NOTO’s Executive Director Laurie Marcil, David MacLachlan, Executive Director of Destination Northern Ontario, frontline operators and myself by clicking here or watch CTV’s coverage here.
Chris Bloore
President & CEO |
NOMINATIONS FOR 2022 ONTARIO TOURISM RESILIENCY AWARDS ARE OPEN!
2021 continued to be a year that challenged our industry, reinforcing our need for determination and perseverance. It just made sense for us to continue to recognize those that have shown resiliency, gained inspiration from others and look towards rebuilding with the Ontario Tourism Resiliency Awards.
Click the here to learn more and begin the nomination process!
EARLY BIRD TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FOR ONTARIO TOURISM SUMMIT 2022!
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Join us for the tourism industry event of the year—because tourism counts.
Gather with industry colleagues and tourism leaders for two days at Deerhurst Resort to network, gain new insights, explore trending topics
and celebrate excellence at the
Ontario Tourism Awards of Excellence Gala.
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Click here to purchase your early bird tickets for OTS22!
NEED EMPLOYEES FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
Centennial College School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts has students (your future workforce!) who are seeking industry linked challenges including part-time work while studying, full time summer employment while studying and full semester (14 week 336 to 448 hours) Work Integrated Learning (working in a supportive environment with a real-world industry partner paid or unpaid) as a capstone to their 2 or 3 years of learning.
Areas of focus include Tourism, Hospitality, Events, Culinary and Baking.
For more information on how to work together with Centennial College, please email mhapak@my.centennialcollege.ca.
SURVEY: TOURISM GROWTH STRATEGY - PRIORITIES FOR TOURISM OPERATORS
In its recent Budget, the Federal Government stated that “to continue supporting Canada’s tourism sector, the Minister of Tourism will work with the tourism industry, provincial and territorial counterparts, and Indigenous tourism operators to develop a new post-pandemic Federal Tourism Growth Strategy, which will plot a course for growth, investment, and stability.”
Government has initiated national consultations. TIAC will be actively participating in these consultations, including drafting a detailed submission that reflects the tourism industry’s priorities for moving towards growth, investment, and stability. To assist TIAC in this regard, please click here to complete the survey.
ON-RAMP SYMPOSIUM SESSION RECORDINGS ARE NOW AVAILABLE
Together, with the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund and Destination Northern Ontario, Ontario Culture Days hosted the second annual symposium in June 2022. ON-Ramp: New Horizons in Cultural Tourism was a two-day event investigating the state of reopening for the arts, culture and tourism sectors. Taking place in-person in Toronto as well as online, the symposium focused on arts and culture destinations in the context of regenerative tourism, diversity and inclusion, and offered industry expert advice on reopening better.
Recorded sessions from the virtual portion of our symposium (June 8) are now available to view! They will be available on a password-protected webpage for 6 months. The following sessions are now available to view;
- Global Perspectives on the State Of Cultural Tourism
- Black Tourism: Trends and Expectations
- Understanding Economic Impact: What Role Does Culture Play?
- Multi-Sector Collaboration in Sault Ste Marie and Algoma: Connecting Culture and Tourism Through Compelling Visitor Experiences.
- Collaborating with RTOs and DMOs: A case study with TAPA and Destination Toronto
- Pivots to Pirouettes: A Path for Regeneration and Recovery in Arts and Tourism
Click here to access the page
Or click on ‘Virtual Portal’ at onculturedays.ca/on-ramp
Password: Summer2022
CANADIAN INDUSTRY FOR UKRAINE DONATION PORTAL
Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED)'s Canadian Industry for Ukraine donation portal provides a single window point of entry for Canadian companies wishing to support the Government of Canada and its settlement partner organizations’ response to the crisis in Ukraine. Businesses can select from fouroptions from the portal landing page, depending on the support they are interested in providing: Financial aid, Jobs in Canada, Goods and Services and Donations of medical supplies.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND INSURANCE BOARD: DOUBLING REBATES FOR ELIGIBLE BUSINESSES THAT INVEST IN HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is giving incentives for smaller businesses with fewer than 99 employees to invest in health and safety. A new pandemic bonus will double the rebates eligible businesses can earn for each topic they complete in the WSIB’s Health and Safety Excellence program. The program will also pay an additional $1,000 toward the development of action plans in 2022. To learn more about these rebates and how to register, please visit here.
HIRE BETTER WITH THE DISCOVER ABILITY NETWORK
22% of Canadians have a disability; that includes job seekers and employees. Do you understand the benefit of hiring qualified talent with a disability? The Discover Ability Network connects inclusive employers to the disability labour market through free tools and resources.
The free Discover Ability job-matching platform connects business to job seekers with disabilities to meet business and workforce needs. Candidates are matched based on overlap between skills, education or work experience and the job posting. Access disability talent directly through a single point of access via Discover Ability's partnerships with employment service providers and their labour pools. See here for more information.
JOIN TIAO IN TAKING THE PLEDGE - AND ENSURE THAT ONTARIO IS THE MOST COMMITTED PROVINCE TO SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Are you interested and committed to being more sustainable? Are you curious, but don't know where to start. Start your 2022 by taking the pledge.
The Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge is a commitment to improve the sustainability performance of your tourism business or destination between now and 2030... but this is more than a pledge.
Launched in June 2021, the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge is a global movement of individuals, businesses, and organizations within the tourism and hospitality industry that believe tourism has a tremendous opportunity to become a force for good and change the world. We believe that improving the social, cultural, environmental, and economic performance of our industry in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is not a trend or a cause, but is essential to the long term health and well-being of this important sector of the global economy. The Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge is built upon the GreenStep Sustainable Tourism criteria, which is aligned with, and in the case of the business criteria, has achieved “Recognized” status, with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. We have set a goal of achieving this.
Take the pledge here: https://www.sustainabletourism2030.com/pledge/
TOURISM & HOSPITALITY EMERGENCY RECOVERY (THER)
As businesses and operators prepare for a strong summer season, workforce recovery remains a challenge. Access tools and strategies specific to your region, including readiness assessments, real-time data, and workshops for businesses. Learn more at LetsGetReady.ca
Vous vous préparez pour la saison printemps-été? Les renseignements sur le marché du travail local et des données sur les prévisions économiques doivent être fournis aux destinations en temps réel pour les aider à prendre des décisions. Pour en savoir plus sur la manière dont l’OTEC et ses partenaires appuient la relance selon les destinations, visitez onseprepare.ca
SAFE TRAVELS STAMP ADMINISTERED BY TIAO
TIAO has been chosen by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to administer the Safe Travels Stamp in Canada. The Safe Travels Stamp is an international symbol designed to allow travellers to recognize governments and companies around the world, which have adopted health and hygiene standardized protocols – so consumers can experience ‘Safe Travels’.
As we are being asked to limit our travel, recognize that the Safe Travels Stamp contributes to comfort with consumer sentiment both from travelers to your area and for your local community. This recognition can lend itself to peace of mind.
Our online application system has been updated and you can access it here. Over 2000 businesses have been approved. See list of successful applicants here.
DO YOU HAVE YOUR TIAO PROUD MEMBER LOGO?
We value our members and are proud to show you off, which is why we have
a special TIAO "Proud Member" logo for your use. If you are a member
and don't have the updated version, please reach out here.
MEMBERSHIP IN 2022 – IS IT COMPLIMENTARY?
In 2020, thanks to a grant provided by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industry, we had the opportunity to be able to extend complimentary membership for one year. TIAO then chose to extend this again in 2021 recognizing the continued struggle. We need to move forward and rebuild but we know that Re-opening does not mean recovery.
In yet another transition year - we need to charge for membership - but we are keeping our rates level and asking the RTOs, DMOs, Sector Associations, Government, Tourism Industry Suppliers and Educators to pay - as we work with you to cascade up and down the information so that we can continue to collaborate and work together to deliver the voice to industry.
We are offering complimentary membership to tourism operators IF the tourism operator is a member of their local DMO and/or Sector Association. We recognize that tourism operators are still challenged. By aligning with the DMOs/Sector Associations we are allowing tourism operators to not have to choose IF they can only afford one membership - we want them to work with those that can market and bring them business.
For those tourism operators that are able to and want to contribute to green shoots to support TIAO’s advocacy efforts, this is greatly appreciated.
We look forward to hearing from you, having more input, strengthening our industry’s voices and making sure tourism is represented.
Contact us for 2022 membership by emailing us directly at membership@tiaontario.ca
If you are a tourism operator that would like to contribute more than your membership dollars to TIAO to support our advocacy efforts, you can do so in one of two methods:
- Sponsorship of an existing action - Tourism Issues Forum, Policy Speaker Series, AGM, and/or Ontario Tourism Summit
- Become a Green shoots sponsor 🌱 - For those members that can afford to pay more than their membership, we will recognize the value of their existing membership through sponsorship (Green shoots sponsor) and use this value of their membership to continue the research and vital actions to rebuild and represent the industry’s voice to government in Ontario.
How does this work if I want to become a member of TIAO?
Welcome, we are glad to extend this to the industry. We ask that you reach out to us directly at: membership@tiaontario.ca We will set up your membership. We will also extend to you the option as we do to our existing members.
- Membership within TIAO for a period of one year from date of signing.
- Opportunity to sponsor an existing action - Tourism Issues Forum, Policy Speaker Series, AGM, and/or Ontario Tourism Summit AND/OR become a Green shoots sponsor 🌱 - For those members that can afford to pay more than their membership, we will recognize the value of their existing membership through sponsorship (Green shoots sponsor) and use this value of their membership to continue the research and vital actions to rebuild and represent the industry’s voice to government in Ontario.
Why Green shoots?
Green shoots is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during an economic downturn. The term green shoots is a reference to plant growth and recovery and has been used during down economies to describe signs of similar growth.
Welcome to the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario.
We are your association, and we are here for you!
GOVERNMENT RELEASES
Federal Government Takes Final Step on Commitment to Ban Single-Use Plastics
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Today, the Government is taking the final step to deliver on the commitment to ban single-use plastics. The published final regulations to prohibit single-use plastics include: checkout bags; cutlery; foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics that are hard to recycle; ring carriers; stir sticks; and straws (with some exceptions).
The ban on the manufacture and import of these single-use plastics, barring a few targeted exceptions to recognize specific cases, will come into effect in December 2022 and the sale of these items will be prohibited as of December 2023. The Government will also prohibit the export of plastics in the six categories by the end of 2025.
NEWS
Scroll down to check out news articles in each of these sections:
- AWARDS & RECOGNITION
- BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
- COVID-19 IMPACT
- FESTIVALS & EVENTS
- FUNDING & GRANTS
- OTHER NEWS
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Niagara Falls Tourism Campaign featuring Alessia Cara Takes Top International Honours as Prestigious Accolades Grow
Niagara Falls Tourism
Niagara Falls Tourism is celebrating two top prestigious international awards, the Absolute Best Campaigns and Talent from 2022 Award from The Drum Awards For Marketing in London, UK and Gold Award in the Branded Documentary category from New York Festivals TV & Film Awards for its one-of-a-kind collaboration with Grammy award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara to produce ‘Alessia Cara Live from Niagara Falls’.
County hands out grants for tourism innovation
Bradford Today
Three finalists who made winning pitches for the Simcoe County “Spark” program were each awarded a $3,000 seed grant and mentorship to help them get started with their new tourism ideas.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Celebrating culture and creativity, Ottawa Tourism launches “Unofficial Museums”
Ottawa Tourism
Ottawa Tourism granted special museum status today to dozens of Ottawa festivals, restaurants, concert venues, and attractions as a way to shine a light on some of the city’s cultural hidden gems. The Unofficial Museums campaign aims to attract travellers to Ottawa by celebrating culture and creativity in Canada’s capital, all year long. To (re)discover the 76 new museums—as well as Ottawa’s already famous institutions.
New tourist attraction coming soon to Niagara Parks Power Station
Niagara Falls Tourism
There’s a new attraction coming to Niagara Falls this summer — The Tunnel at the Niagara Parks Power Station. Visitors to the power station will be able to explore the remarkable underground levels of the power station as you travel down 180 feet in a glass-paneled elevator.
Callander soliciting development ideas for new waterfront attraction
Northern Ontario Business
With 300 feet of prized, undeveloped waterfront frontage on Lake Nipissing, the Municipality of Callander is putting the call out to developers for ideas on how to “transform” this piece of township property.
COVID-19 IMPACT
Tourism operators call for an end to land border restrictions
CTV News
Northern Ontario's tourism organizations and operators sent a message to the Canadian government Wednesday morning: they want an end to pandemic restrictions. "It's not fair, it's not right and it's not following the science -- in northern Ontario we face the very real prospect of losing businesses in this period of recovery than we did in lockdown," said Tourism Industry Association of Canada's Chris Bloore.
Visitors Welcome: Durham businesses hope for post-COVID tourism boost
Toronto Star
Businesses and tourism officials share what the lifting of COVID restrictions means for the summer tourism stories, and the new challenges faced by struggling businesses.
‘Summer’s there, you can taste it’: Is Barrie’s tourism sector heading for a financial rebound in the months to come?
Toronto Star
For the first time since 2019, city will have extensive list of large, in-person summertime events. With so many events slated to return this summer, Simcoe.com decided to ask whether tourism-industry leaders see a rebound coming.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
‘A wild day’: Businesses thrive as Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival brings thousands to downtown Midland
Simcoe.com
Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival drew a massive crowd to downtown Midland on June 11 and provided a significant boost to the local economy.
Toronto welcomes back Collision – North America’s fastest growing tech conference
City of Toronto
Collision has returned in-person in Toronto this week at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place. The sold-out event is the largest international in-person gathering in Toronto in more than two years with over 35,000 attendees.
FUNDING & GRANTS
Cobourg Cycling Club receives funding grant to increase staff
GoNorthumberland
The Cobourg Cycling Club has recently applied for and qualified for a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries and Ontario Cycling. The club has been in existence since 1974, and is one of the oldest in Ontario.
OTHER NEWS
Modernizing Canada’s Privacy Laws: What Employers Need to Know About Bill C-27
Hicks Morley
On June 16, 2022, the federal government introduced Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022. If passed, Bill C-27 would repeal Part 1 of the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and replace it with the new Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA).
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